Marilyn Monroe – A Beautiful Mystery No One Could Solve
Birth Name: Norma Jeane Mortenson
Date of Birth: June 1, 1926
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Nationality: American
Occupation: Actress, singer, model
Height: 5 feet 5.5 in; 1.66m
Measurements: 36-23-37 (in)
Monroe in one sentence – Marilyn was a beautiful blonde that inspired and influenced millions of people throughout the world when she was alive and even more so since her tragic death.
Marilyn Monroe Quotes:
A career is wonderful, but you can’t curl up with it on a cold night.
I’ve been on a calendar, but never on time.
If I had observed all the rules, I’d never have gotten anywhere.
It’s often just enough to be with someone. I don’t need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You’re not alone.
If I play a stupid girl, and ask a stupid question, I’ve got to follow it through. What am I supposed to do, look intelligent?
I’ve never liked the name Marilyn. I’ve often wished that I had held out that day for Jean Monroe. But I guess it’s too late to do anything about it now.
If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything.
Dogs never bite me. Just humans.
Interesting Facts:
Most of her childhood Marilyn spent in foster homes.
She never met or even found out who her father really was.
Her mother had serious mental problems and was unable to take care of her.
Marilyn was only 16 years old when she got married to James Dougherty (divorced 1946).
At the age of 19 Marilyn started her modeling career.
Norma started using the name Marilyn Monroe in 1946.
Between 1951 and 1953 she starred in a number of commercially successful motion pictures (Monkey Business, We’re Not Married!, Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire) which made her famous in United States and beyond.
On December 1953 Marilyn graced the cover of the First issue of the Playboy Magazine.
Between 1954 and 1960 she starred in 7 films including There’s No Business Like Show Business 1954, The Seven Year Itch 1955, Bus Stop 1956, and Some Like it Hot 1959.
Many of her co-workers described her as difficult to work with and totally unpredictable (due to her depression, mood swings and dependence on alcohol and prescription medications).
On February, 1961 she voluntarily entered the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic.
She was treated by a number of psychiatrists including the daughter of Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud.
The daughter of Monroe’s last psychiatrist, Joan Greenson, said that Monroe was “passionate about equal rights, rights for blacks, rights for the poor. She identified strongly with the workers.”
Her personal library contained over 400 books on topics ranging from art to history, psychology, philosophy, literature, religion, poetry, and gardening. Many of the volumes, auctioned in 1999, bore her pencil notations in the margins.
Marilyn’s IQ was tested when she was working at an aircraft factory during WW2; she scored 174!
Marilyn had three marriages, all of which ended in divorce (James Dougherty, Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller).
She allegedly had affairs with both Robert and John Kennedy (the president of the United States).
On May 19, 1962, Monroe made her last significant public appearance, singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” at a birthday party for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. The dress that she wore to the event was sold at an auction in 1999 for $1.26 million.
On August 5, 1962, at 4:25 am Monroe’s psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson called the local police and reported that Marilyn was found dead at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California.
It was reported that President Kennedy was the last person Monroe called.
Many theories, including murder, circulated about the circumstances of her death and the timeline after the body was found. Officially she died from “acute barbiturate poisoning”, resulting from a “probable suicide”.
On August 8, 1962, Monroe was interred in a crypt at Corridor of Memories #24, at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
In 1992, Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, who never met Monroe, bought the crypt immediately to the left of hers. He affirmed that the initial success of his magazine directly correlated with Monroe.
In 1995 she was voted the Empire’s (UK) “most attractive female movie star of all time”.
In 1999 Monroe was voted the “Most Attractive Woman of the Century” by People Magazine.
There are over 600 books written about her.
Go to Marilyn Monroe Gallery or to Beautiful American Women
Always remember that true beauty comes from within.